Grounded
by AnDe101
Summary: *Complete* Reno finds something very interesting about the blond-haired Hero. What could it be? And will Cloud be that willing to share it? CloudxReno short story. Inspired by a scene from Crisis Core! xD


**A/N: **Here's my new CloudxReno one-shot, short story! This idea has been swirling in my head after playing Crisis Core. And it just sent me in a fit of giggles after I read that Cloud gets airsick, or has motion sickness and the poor cadet is just being all sick and stuff in a nearby corner while I'm trying to save the city. xD

**Inspiration(s): **Katsumi Sinclair's _"Reno Hates Spiders"_ (That one is about Reno's fear, this one is about Cloud's, though Cloud wants to be manly with his fear and decides to just suck it up xD) and OvenBased's _"Flyin' High" _(Helicopter scenes FTW! 8D)

The two ain't on a relationship basis as they were in my last CloudxReno story, it's more like the early stage of a friendship, but they're bonding :D....er..sorta xD

Hope you enjoy the story!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the characters from FFVII. I only own my grammar mistakes because it sucks to write/edit while you're sick D:

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**Grounded**

Reno's left eye twitched in annoyance as the blond shook his head once more.

"Cloud would you get in the fucking helicopter already?! The point of flying to Kalm is to get there faster, but your stubbornness is delaying our departure; we could have been there hours ago!"

Cloud just pursed his lips together and intensified his glare. "For the last time no. I'll go on Fenrir and ride to Kalm instead."

Reno let out a frustrated sigh as Cloud continued to be stubborn. "Cloud, no offense or anything to your bike, but it will be faster if we use the chopper, so get your ass in there already!"

"Reno listen carefully, for it seems as though you aren't hearing me clearly enough, **I** **DON'T WANT TO GO ON THE CHOPPER."** Cloud tried his best to enunciate each word hoping that it would get through the also stubborn Turk. They've been arguing about this for quite a while now and to be honest he wished that Reno would just give in already; he didn't have the patience to argue with the Turk let alone tolerate him.

Reno stared at him for a while then he smirked. That was not a good sign…

"Too bad, I told those Avalanche buddies of yours that you would be at Kalm pronto. I don't want them to kill me cause I didn't bring the Hero of the PLANET when he's needed." Reno didn't even wait for a reply because he just grabbed Cloud by the scruff of his shirt and dragged him to the helicopter.

"Hello, this is your pilot, Reno speaking. We are now getting ready for take-off, so I suggest you buckle up, blondie."

Cloud ignored whatever Reno was saying as he desperately tried to open the helicopter's door, but Reno had locked it when he shoved him inside the chopper.

"Damn it Cloud! Stop kicking the door!" Reno cursed as Cloud tried every way to open the door, except pulling out his sword to slice it open; he then decided that he needed to get off the roof and fast. Cloud wouldn't try to open the door when they're in mid-air right?... He sure hoped so. Reno pictured his death to either die from old age or go out with a bang that would surely be remembered. But since he was a Turk and they tend to die young, except for Vincent but there are a lot of things that guy is an exception for, he really didn't want to be remembered by the guy that got pummeled to death by Tifa Lockhart all because he failed to protect her _precious_ Cloud.

Cause that's…just lame…getting beaten up by a girl. Maybe if he asked nicely Tifa could change the story up saying that there was a horde of angry monsters and they were surrounded and Reno, being the _perfect_ role model that he was, heroically jumped into action and killed all of the monsters but alas the hero died from protecting the damsel in distress. Hm…sounds more like a story you tell to little kids…and Tifa a damsel in distress? That would be a sight…

"Reno, I told you I'm not going on this heli…co..p…te..r…." Cloud's voice died down as he stared at the rapidly shrinking buildings beneath him; soon the buildings were gone and were replaced with a desert-like terrain.

"Cloud?" Reno waved his hand in front of the pale blonde's face. "_Heeelloo?_ Anyone there in that Chocobo-head of yours?"

Cloud vigorously shook his head and slapped Reno's hand away.

"Well, jeez someone's being a difficult ass today." Reno commented as he shifted his attention back to piloting over the desolate grounds beneath them.

"Only because you won't take _'no' _as an answer." Cloud retorted, still troubled by the fact that they were a couple hundreds of feet off the ground.

"Well I don't get why ya had to make such a big fuss."

"I did no such thing."

"Then tell me why did you knock out five of our operatives when they were tryin' to haul you up to the roof?"

"They had it coming. I am very capable of coming up there by myself."

Reno gave Cloud a wary look. "Oh really now? Somehow I don't believe that you'll even come. Bet'cha you'll be out of the building by the time we let ya go."

Cloud's face darkened. "So you're saying I'll…run away?"

Reno visibly flinched at the sudden change of Cloud's tone. "W-wait! I didn't mean it like that, yo!"

"Then pray tell Reno, what did you mean?"

Reno scooted away from Cloud a little, just in case if the blond suddenly decided to add some action to his words. Even though they were both buckled in, the seat belt still gave you the freedom to move your hands, and Reno did not want a fist coming his way…

"Well, what I meant by that is…uhm..." Reno scratched his head as he tried to think of a way to fix what Cloud had accused him of. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of a very good excuse. He was flying for god's sake! A pilot is supposed to be focused on flying, not trying to figure out how to apologize for misinterpreted words.

"I see…you don't trust me then." Cloud turned his head away, but grimaced when he got a good look of how high they were up now.

But something in Reno snapped. "Trust? Strife you have no right to be accusing me about not trustin' ya. The minute you set one foot on Shinra property you are all hostile toward us. I didn't even raise a single weapon against you, and yet you have one hand on yours already!"

"Well, considering what Shinra has done to me and my friends in the past, they have not done anything to earn back my trust."

Reno's face fell and his shoulders slumped down. "If you don't trust Shinra…then does that mean you don't trust me either? Is that the reason why you didn't wanna ride the chopper?" Talk about adding insult to injury. Reno took pride in his piloting skills…and to think that someone like Cloud, the person he's been secretly wanting approval from, was questioning his skills as a pilot…well it hurts.

Cloud noticed the saddened face on the Turk. "Reno...it's not that I don't trust you, it's just..." He rubbed his chin in thought. "When you work with Shinra I've figured that you always need to watch your back. You'll never know who's your friend and your enemy."

Reno shrugged at the response Cloud gave him. "Yeah, alright whatever."

"Reno I'm being serious here! Don't just shrug me off!"

"…"

Cloud firmly grasped Reno's shoulder and pulled so that the red-head would look at him.

"Hey! What's your deal, yo?!" Reno tried to shake Cloud's grip off.

"Just because I have trust issues, yes I do admit that I do have them, doesn't mean that I don't know how to trust someone!"

Reno stopped struggling and stared at Cloud. "I guess we both have to learn to trust each other first." Reno then smiled, but his eyes had a glint of mischief. "Cloud do you trust me?"

Cloud let go of the grip he had on the Turk and tilted his head to the side slightly. "Reno…it takes a bit of time for trust to develop, one sitting in a helicopter won't develop a lifetime's worth of trust between two people."

"Well we hafta start somewhere!" Reno grabbed the joystick and made it so that they were going a bit faster.

"Uh…" Cloud gulped. "Can we slow down?!"

"Nope! I can see the landing pad over there!" Reno made it so that the descending was a bit faster than usual, but that was only because he wanted to test something out.

"Reno! You're going too fast!!!" Cloud shut his eyes tightly and clenched his hands into fists as he literally felt the bumpiness as the chopper hit some turbulence. Oh this so wasn't good for his stomach…

Reno heard the blonde's pleas and he was sure he knew what was causing Cloud's discomfort, but first he wanted to hear the blond admit it.

"Why should I? We're almost there!"

"Because you're going to kill us at the speed you're going!"

"No I won't! See there you go again! Questioning my abilities as a pilot, you wound me with your words!" Reno bit his tongue to keep himself from cracking up.

"Reno not this again! I told you that it's not you I don't trust…"

"Then why are your eyes closed?"

"Because…"

Reno didn't like that answer, so he tried again. "Why don't you wanna ride the chopper?"

"…"

"C'mon Cloud there's gotta be a reason…" Reno pressed on.

"I'mafriadofheights." Came the quick reply.

"I'm sorry I didn't quite get that." Reno was now grinning from ear to ear as he boldly jerked the helicopter forward.

"Damn you Reno! Stop it!"

"Stop what?" Reno asked innocently as he once again made a slight nose dive with the helicopter.

"The twisting, the turning, everything!"

"Cloud if I stop everything then we'll have to do an emergency landing." Oh, the blond was just so much fun to tease.

Cloud opened his eyes to glare at Reno. "Reno I swear to god the only thing stopping me from kicking your smart alecky ass is because of the fact that you're the one flying this thing!"

Reno grinned at him cheekily. "Is that all you want to do to my ass?"

Cloud apparently had the freedom to move his legs for he kicked Reno hard in the chin, though the movement made his stomach even more upset. He laid his head on the cool window surface and wrapped one hand around his stomach and the other over his mouth. He was definitely not feeling well.

"H-hey, I was only joking!" Reno winced as he felt a bruise forming on the spot of skin that met Cloud's boot. He glanced at his silent companion and noticed his sickly appearance.

"Oh dude…you're not gonna throw up in here are ya?!"

"Reno shut up or else I'll throw up on you instead." Cloud threatened and that shut Reno up real quickly.

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***At Kalm***

After thoroughly checking everything to make sure the chopper was a-okay for the next flight, Reno opened Cloud's door and the blond stumbled out.

Cloud walked toward his fellow Avalanche team members who were waiting for him. Though he still looked a little pale, but only dear Ms. Lockhart would notice the difference for she was always hounding the guy down about every little injury he got. And Reno wouldn't be surprised if she kept a daily log of Cloud's current condition, but that sounds a bit stalker-ish don't you think?

Reno's long-time Turk partner Rude walked up to him. "Glad to see that you two got here in one piece."

Reno snorted. "It wasn't easy partner. That Strife put up one hell of a fight, wouldn't get in the chopper at all."

Rude seemed amused by this. "Is that so?"

"Yup, who would have known the _great _Cloud Strife is afraid of heights and is prone to getting air sick." Reno chuckled. Guess there are a lot of things you learn about a guy when you're not trying to kill each other on a daily basis.

Rude adjusted his sunglasses and folded his arms in front of him. "Well, Rufus said that since you did such a great job in bringing Cloud here, you're going to be his ride back to Edge."

The color in Reno's face literally was drained and he could have sworn that Cloud heard whatever Rude had said because he saw the challenging look on the blonde's face, one that was simply daring him to try and get the blond into the chopper with results probably ending with a dead Turk out in the middle of nowhere.

"Partner…if the search party finds me dead somewhere after this, have Strife's name be on the top three of suspected killers…"

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_End of Story_

Well there ya go! Another CloudxReno story, lol this pairing is sorta challenging my OTP, but can it beat it? Hm...maybe xD Ah well, I just find these two characters very interesting to write about. xD

_xFairy-of-Twilightx_


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